Organizing a precarious black box: An actor‐network account of the Atlantic Schools of Business, 1980–2006

There is a growing use of actor‐network theory (ANT) throughout management and organization studies. While earlier ANT research used ethnography to “follow the actors” in the production of organization/knowledge, more recent studies use archival sources to examine developments over time. We extend the latter approach using qualitative social network analysis (SNA) and apply this to a case study of the Atlantic Schools of Business (ASB). Our contribution is two‐fold: first, through an examination of actors in the ASB networking processes over 26 years, we demonstrate how the seemingly stable surface of an organization can hide the precariousness of organizing; second, we reveal the potential fusion of ANT with SNA as a method for dealing with large qualitative datasets over long periods of time. Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Robustness of some non-uniform random variate generators

Often the usefulness of a random variate generator for a distribution is based on the successful generation of independent variates from the uniform distribution. However, no pseudo-random number generator is capable of generating a truly random uniform sequence. As the cost of computations is now dramatically reduced, the computational efficiency should not be the primary criterion in choosing a good generator. Proposed here is a robustness criterion which is designed to study the effect of an imperfect pseudo-random number generator on the accuracy of a random variate generator. In particular, the beta and binomial variate generators are examined for their robustness to the non-uniformity of a pseudo-random number generator.     

The effects of price and message-sidedness on confidence in product and advertisement with personal involvement as a mediator variable

Attribution of confidence by consumers when the price of the product is known, has already been investigated in previous studies, as has been attribution of confidence from advertisements' sidedness. This study, based on a 2 × 3 × 2 (sidedness × price levels × type of product) factorial design, focuses in the interactive effects of price and message-sidedness, since consumers are rarely exposed to one single variable of the marketing strategy. A model is developped, which is articulated on the central concept of consumer involvement. It is found that under high involvement, high price enhances confidence in the product (but not in the advertisement), two-sided messages increase confidence in the advertisement (but not in the product). It is also shown that two-sided messages bring about higher-confidence in the product when price is at the medium level.     

带形状参数Bézier曲线最小平方降阶逼近

给出了基于L2范数下用m次（m≤m）带形状参数B6zier曲线最小平方逼近n＋1次带形状参数Bézier曲线的方法,同时也考虑了c^0和C^1约束条件下的最小平方降阶逼近．通过解线性方程组可得到新的降阶逼近曲线的控制顶点,降阶逼近曲线的误差也可计算．     

Tourism's regional development impacts : A comparative analysis of the Greek islands

This paper explores the conditions that determine tourism development and theorizes how these conditions lead to a variety of impacts on host communities. Thirty-eight Greek islands were statistically analyzed using secondary data and a smaller sample was studied in greater detail through a comparative case-study approach. While the quantity of tourism development was found to be subject to demand, its quality and integration with other sectors were associated with the size of the community. Tourism impacts were found to be beneficial in larger islands. In smaller islands with high tourist activity, while a reverse in declining demographic patterns has been observed, tourism was found to create unstable, short-term, and dualistic development. The paper concludes that factors such as the local institutional capacity to absorb development and the potential interaction of locals and tourists should be considered in the making of tourism policy.     

Rod F. Ziemer**

This paper investigates the effect of disequilibrium prices on consumer and producer surplus in the U.S. fed beef market. An econometric model which allows for the possibility of prices that do not clear the market was used in the analysis. Results indicated that (I) the effect of disequilibrium prices in the U.S. fed beef market in the 1960s was relatively small compared to the 1970s and (2) recent price controls on beef caused price distortions that yielded surplus gains to consumers while producers suffered surplus losses. Cet article a pour but de déterminer ?effet du déséquilibre des prix sur le surplus du consommateur et du producteur dans le marché des bovins ?alimentation, aux Etats- Unis. Dans cette analyse, nous avons utilisé un modele économétrique qui peut s'appliquer aux cas où les prix ne sonl pas à la situation ?équilibre. Les résullats indiquent que: (1) ?effet do déséquilibre des prix dans les années 60 aux Etats- Unit était relativement modeste compareéà?effet enregistré dans les années 70; (2) les récents contrölles de prix imposés sur les bovins ont causé des distortions de prix. lesquelles distortions ont entrainé un accroissement du surplus du consommateur au détriment du surplus du producteur.     

风险投资契约关系的理论研究

在风险投资过程中存在两重委托—代理关系,即投资者与风险投资家之间的委托—代理关系、风险投资家与企业家之间的委托—代理关系。因此,对风险投资契约关系的理论研究基本上是围绕以下三个层面展开的,即:投资者与风险投资家契约关系、风险投资家与风险企业契约关系、三方互动的契约关系。     

On the lowest-winning-bid and the highest-losing-bid auctions

Theoretical models of multi-unit, uniform-price auctions assume that the price is given by the highest losing bid. In practice, however, the price is usually given by the lowest winning bid. We derive the equilibrium bidding function of the lowest-winning-bid auction when there are k objects for sale and n bidders with unit demand, and prove that it converges to the bidding function of the highest-losing-bid auction if and only if the number of losers n−k gets large. When the number of losers grows large, the bidding functions converge at a linear rate and the prices in the two auctions converge in probability to the expected value of an object to the marginal winner.     

A multilevel perspective on the relationship between interpersonal justice and negative feedback‐seeking behaviour

Drawing on social information processing theory, this study uses a multilevel design to integrate the literature on organizational justice with the literature on feedback‐seeking behaviour. Results from a laboratory study with data involving 690 employees showed that individual‐level interpersonal justice was related to employee negative feedback‐seeking behaviour (NFSB) via the mediation of trust in the supervisor. Multilevel analysis of the follow‐up field study with data involving 390 employees from 46 teams confirmed the findings of the laboratory study and indicated that team‐level interpersonal justice was associated with NFSB through a supportive climate. Also, team‐level supervisor support climate was positively related to individual‐level trust in the supervisor. The paper discusses managerial implications of these findings and suggests directions for future research. Copyright © 2014 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Economic Consequences of IFRS Adoption: The Role of Changes in Disclosure Quality*

This study adopts a two‐step approach to highlight the disclosure quality channel that drives economic consequences of IFRS adoption. This approach helps address the identification challenge noted by prior research and offers direct evidence on the role of disclosure quality. In the first step, we document the impact of the IFRS mandate on changes in disclosure quality proxied by the granularity of line item disclosure in financial statements. We find that IFRS‐adopting firms provide more disaggregated information upon IFRS adoption, such as more granular disclosure of intangible assets and long‐term investments on the balance sheet and greater disaggregation of depreciation, amortization, and nonoperating income items on the income statement. In the second step, we link the observed disclosure changes to the benefits and costs of IFRS adoption. We show that greater disaggregated information due to IFRS adoption enhances market liquidity and decreases information asymmetry, but does not affect audit fees differentially. Our evidence has implications for standard setters as they evaluate cost‐benefit trade‐offs when considering disclosure changes in the future.